Wives Of The Russian Officers

The giri tlie Russian officer leaves behind him when he goes to the war is his wife. Early marriages are very common in Russia, and a very large proportion of the officers of tlie army - even those of the lowost grade - are married. In the Germán, French and, British armies, an oiïicer is nut permitted to mnrry until he attains a certain rank or satisfies the military authorities tlitit either he or his bride can afl'ord to undertake the responsibilíties oí domestic life. In Rusgia, as the Pall Mali Oazette explains, there is no regulation of this kind; and, as the pay of the Russian ofliecr is notoriously meager, it follows that most of those who are married are in a state of extreme poverty, and can with difficulty provide their families with even the necessaries of life. Moreover, vei-y many of the subaltern offioers of the Russian army are quartered for loug periods with small detachments in out-of-tlie-way and misc;rable villages, where thoy must perforoe live without any society whatsoever, save that of peasants and their own soldiers.